Chorus CEO wants travel, border restrictions eased
The president and CEO of Halifax-based Chorus Aviation Inc. is calling on the federal and Nova Scotia governments to ease passenger travel restrictions and border closures to help the airline industry deal with the financial impact of COVID-19.
“While these may have been necessary in the beginning, Canada’s federal and interprovincial travel restrictions are now one of the most severe in the world. The mandatory two-week quarantine requirement in Nova Scotia, as an example, makes doing business very difficult,” said Joe Randell in a news release.
“The Canadian and provincial governments need to look to other G20 countries that have implemented safe, thoughtful, practical and science-based approaches to strategically easing travel restrictions in order to enable business and economies to restart and succeed within this new normal. Unlike other countries, Canada has not provided sector support to the aviation industry.”
On Wednesday, Chorus Aviation released its secondquarter results for 2020.
For the three months ending June 30, the company reported a drop in operating revenue to $184.2 million, compared to $332.5 during that same period last year. As well, operating expenses decreased to $150.5 million from $282.1 million while net income dropped to $29.2 million (18 cents per basic share) from $38.9 million.
Chorus Aviation provides aircraft leasing and aviation services. It has regional flight services with Jazz Aviation and Voyageur Aviation through agreements with Air Canada.
In June, it was announced that Air Canada was discontinuing 30 regional routes, 21 of which were Air Canada Express routes operated by Jazz Aviation.
Air Canada Express had only nine per cent of the block hours flown during this period compared to last year. Chorus expects this to increase to 20-30 per cent for the rest of this year.
Since March 31, Jazz Aviation has reduced its workforce, either temporarily or permanently, by 65 per cent.
“Without regional air service, many businesses, academia and tourism operators will struggle. Action needs to be taken by government to ensure Canada has an efficient and accessible air transportation network across our vast country,” said Randell.
He added that the company has $228 million in liquidity, and with that can “manage through an extended recovery period and to participate in the growth of the aviation industry in the future.”
Randell wasn’t available for an interview Thursday.
More information on Chorus, including a summary of its financial results, is available at chorusaviation.com.